End of the End
by Sheogorath's Avatar
Summary: They do say that forewarned is forearmed. Cinder's in for a shock. Team RNJR is sent back by a mysterious force to just after initiation. Can they change things for the better, or is this all just a cruel joke? Rated T for violence. May change to M later.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know I said I was on hiatus, but the latest episode of RWBY, man. It made the ending I had planned for my Diablo cross look like Barney by comparison. Poor Jaune, at least he doesn't have it as bad as Shinji. It depressed/inspired me to crawl out of bed and write this. (Fuck California gas stations)**

Ruby watched as Salem, the first, and now last Grimm, faded away, ending their threat forever. Now, perhaps, the kingdoms could rebuild. Now, Huntsman and Huntresses would no longer be needed, the stories forever relegated to history and myth. Never again would tearful parents receive word that their child had been sent on a mission, never to return. _Or parent_ , Ruby thought as she dropped Crescent Rose. She tried to stand, but her legs weren't responding. Her hands fumbled to retrieve her scroll, and she began recording. "Dad, Yang..."

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Earlier

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Cinder sent wave after wave of flame towards the young man. His hair had been completely burned away, and his skin was cracked and charred. The only things recognizable were his eyes, which seemed to burn with rage and hatred. Desperately, she backed away from the boy ( _demon_ ) that approached her one blackened hand clutching a sword, the other burned away. She felt a cold, yet searing pain in her abdomen. Looking down, she saw a sword sticking from her. She gasped as she felt it suddenly ripped upward. Her power poured out of her, the fire engulfing almost all of her senses. Before the world went dark, the _thing_ leaned close, and whispered, "Burn with me."

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As the light faded from Cinder's eyes, Jaune fell to the ground. Despite his burns, all he could feel was cold spreading through his ruined body. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something, a flash of red. "P... Pyrr..." he croaked out. He could almost feel the gentle touch of a finger on his lips, silencing him. As death took him, he could have sworn he heard someone call his name.

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Even Earlier

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Nora cradled Ren in her arms. They had tracked Mercury to the ruins of Haven Academy, and had fought him in a dilapidated classroom. Ren had told Ruby and Jaune to find Cinder, before charging. In the end, a lucky stab from Stormflower had pierced the ammunition reserves in Mercury's leg, detonating the shells. Mercury had ceased to exist below the waist, and Ren was thrown across the room. Nora had rushed to his side and gasped when she saw his ruined left side, shredded by buckshot. In some distant corner of her mind, she recognized the howls of an approaching pack of Grimm, but her attention was focused on her dying friend. "Ren, stay with me, _please_! We'll get out of this, right? Then, all the pancakes are on me. Ren? Ren?"

Ren laughed, a chuckle that quickly turned into a bloody cough. "That will be the day."

"Ren! Please don't go! Don't leave me alone! I... I... L... Lo..." Her words turned into choking sobs at the end.

"I know, Nora," he said, his one remaining green eye meeting her gaze. "I know." With those words, his head fell back resting on her lap. For what seemed like an eternity she hugged his body, sobbing uncontrollably. She only looked up when the first Grimm burst into the room, a towering Ursa Major, followed by what seemed an endless horde. Gently placing his body on the ground with a kiss on the forehead, she hefted Magnhild. She looked at the leader of the Grimm, and prepared to attack, tears staining her cheeks. "Boop."

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Atlas, present

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Blake stood facing Adam, his blade at Weiss's neck. "Please, you don't need to do this! It's me you want!"

He snarled, his face twisted in rage, "Oh but I _do_ , dear. She's a Schnee! Her entire life, she has profited from the enslavement of my people. _Your_ people! Besides, I promise that I will get to you soon enough." Blake snapped a shot off at him, but he twisted, making the bullet hit Weiss instead. "Oh my, you always seem to hurt those you claim to care about. Isn't that right, _darling_ ," he said as he threw the gasping and twitching girl to the ground. "First me, then Yang, and now you seem to have killed Snow White over there. How tragic." He straightened his mask. "You know, I bet Yang will be devastated when she hears about losing anoth-" His words cut off as he looked down in surprise at the thin blade that had erupted from his chest.

"You shot me," Weiss stated coolly as Adam slumped to the floor.

"I'm sorry."

"Make it up to me by getting me to a doctor."

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One week later

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Yang was pacing, her remaining hand idly rubbing the stump that used to be her right arm. _He should be back by now. Unless-no, calm down. Any minute now, he'll be walking through the door with Ruby tagging along. She may be a little worse for wear, but it's not like she's- nope, not even gonna think about it._

"Kid, if you keep that up, you'll wear a hole in the carpet," her uncle said, trying to lighten the mood. She nearly snapped at him, but stopped when she saw his face. He was just as worried about her sister as she was. The duo shot up as they heard a car outside. They ran out the door, but pulled up short when Taiyang emerged, a vacant look on his face. "Taiyang, what's wrong?" He didn't respond. Instead, he brushed past Qrow and walked to one of the rear doors.

"Dad? You're freaking me out here. Where's Ruby?" Yang asked with a tremor in her voice. His only response was to open the door and gently pick up a small, broken figure wrapped in a red cloak. "No..."

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Later

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The funeral was an understated affair. The Atlesian council had wanted to bury her in a massive mausoleum accompanied by a 21-gun salute from the remnants of their fleet. Weiss had even pushed for a statue. In the end, however, it was decided that Ruby would be buried next to her mother's empty grave on that small cliff. Yang couldn't bring herself to listen to the eulogy, her mind mulling over her sister's final words. _That's right, sis, you became a hero, saved the world. Just like you always wanted._ She glanced around to see her expression mirrored on the faces of everyone else. All the survivors of Beacon were there. Sun stood to one side, looking uncomfortable in his thee-piece suit. Weiss and Blake sat on each side of her. Weiss was wearing black, for once, the dress almost covering up the bandages on her shoulder. To the casual observer, Blake would appear as stoic as ever. Yang, however, could see the tears in her best friend's eyes. Even Cardin was there, in a wheelchair with a blanket covering where his legs used to be.

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The coffin had been lowered down, and each mourner had dropped a single rose into the pit. When it came to Blake's turn, almost as an afterthought, she reached up and removed her bow before dropping it on top of the bed of roses. "I'm done hiding," she whispered.

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Later? Earlier?

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Yang was ecstatic. Her baby sister had not only been accepted to Beacon, she had even been assigned the leader of team RWBY! _Speaking of Rubes, is that sobbing I hear?_ She crept to her sister's bunk, careful not to wake up the other occupants of the dorm. As she approached, she had her suspicions confirmed. Ruby was curled up almost into a ball, sobs shaking her tiny form. "Yang, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Please. _Please!_ " Quickly, Yang sat on the bed and pulled her sister into a comforting hug.

"Shhh. It's OK. It's just a bad dream."

In a miserable tone that nearly broke Yang's heart, Ruby murmured, "Yeah, just a dream."

 **P/S: As M. Night. Shaymalan would say, what a twist! The first to guess what happened gets an e-cookie!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Still sick, but my muse just won't shut up.

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JNPR's Dorm

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Jaune awoke with a start. "Pyrrha!" He looked around to see the rest of the team -his team- already awake. Ren and Nora were whispering about something on their side of the room, but he tuned them out when his eyes settled upon the person he had thought he would never see again- the person he had called out for in his final moments. The light from the small fluorescent fixture in the room hit her hair at such an angle so as to make it look like her head was surrounded by a halo of fire. For the first time in months, Jaune smiled.

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"So, where do we go from here? Should we just pretend that nothing happened, and hope for the best, or should we try to use this to prevent-" here Jaune struggled to keep his voice steady, " _that_ from happening again?"

"Maybe, but what if things go wrong?" Ren replied in his usual calm tone, "What if our attempts to prevent Vale's fall instead make it worse?" He seemed about to continue along that tangent, when he was cut off by Nora grabbing him in a bear hug.

"It'd be worth it," his diminutive friend insisted. When he opened his mouth to retort, she squeezed tighter. "Worth. It."

He grunted from the pressure, but gave a small smile. "If you say so, Nora."

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Later

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After the 'nightmare' the night before, Ruby seemingly returned to her usual, cheerful self. Yang, however, noticed small things that seemed _off_ about her little sister. Ruby's smiles seemed to come a little slower, and were a little more forced than usual. The clincher came when they were hurriedly changing into their uniforms after their 'decorating.' She only saw it for a moment, but there was a small scar on Ruby's lower back that hadn't been there before. She filed that away to ask about later. Right now, they had classes to get to.

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Ruby knew Yang was suspicious. She may have played the part of the dumb blonde, but there was a keen mind beneath her golden hair. She made up her mind to prepare an explanation for when Yang confronted her about it. _Now, how did this day go last time?_

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 _Yup, pretty much like last time_ , Ruby thought. Weiss had had her tantrum over her leadership, and Jaune had acted the fool. Apparently, he had arrived at the same conclusion. Pretend nothing had changed, and the difficult explaining could be delayed.

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Lunch

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As teams RWBY and JNPR made their way to the cafeteria (the former having slept past breakfast,) Yang began taking notice of Ruby's newfound friends. Nora was getting a piggyback ride from Ren. _Funny. Wasn't she loudly claiming they weren't 'together-together?'_ That _changed quickly._ She also saw that Jaune was wearing a small pouch on a cord around his neck. _Something important that he didn't want to lose during initiation?_ 'Vomit Boy' was walking alongside a limping Pyrrha- _wait,_ limping _? That's new_. After considering that minor detail, she quickly dismissed it. _Maybe she sprained her ankle or something_. At least Ruby's smile wasn't forced. _Maybe my little sis has finally come out of her shell_. _I guess making team leader really did wonders for her confidence_. They finally reached their destination, and sat down at the table. Yang noted how Ruby sat next to Jaune. _I know he was her first friend here, but if he tries_ anything _-_ she stopped that train of thought when Jaune lifted his left hand to grasp his fork. The back was covered in a knotted burn scar. _Ouch, that must have hurt. I wonder how he got it._ Come to think of it, every member of team JNPR was marked. Ren had a small network of scars across his left cheek which stood out when they caught the light. Nora had what looked like bite and claw marks peeking from beneath her gloves. Even the Invincible Girl had a small scar right where her collarbones met. _What happened to these kids?_

At that moment, Nora returned with a large stack of pancakes drenched in maple syrup. Instead of finding her own seat, she dropped herself into Ren's lap, the usually stoic young man grunting from the sudden weight. He looked up in surprise before breaking out a smile that on anyone else would have been called slight, but on Ren was the equivalent of him grinning from ear-to-ear. _Yup, definitely together-together._ She looked away from them two, only to catch Jaune hurriedly looking away from his partner. _Aww, looks like Vomit Boy has a cru-ush!_ _Though he did look kinda sad about something._ 'Kinda sad' didn't even begin to describe what she saw. The expression on the wimpy boy's face was the same one worn by her dad whenever he thought about Summer. Yang paused, debating whether it was just her imagination. _Why would a boy who wears baby blue footie pajamas look like that?_ Her new observations quickly went into her growing mental to-investigate list.

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After Classes

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Now that the teams had some downtime, Ruby could do something she had been planning since the night before. "Yang, I'm going to stop by the armory for a bit, do you want me to pick up some more shells?"

"Thanks, Rubes!"

Blake looked up from her book, her bow twitching. She hadn't known the small girl for long, but something had changed about her since last night. Her sensitive hearing had picked up the sobs from her half-doze. She was sure her partner shared some of her suspicions, but the Schnee was probably too wrapped up in her own arrogance to care. When the young heiress had begun her rant, Blake had noticed a flash of quickly-supressed anger cross Ruby's face, before it was replaced by a look, almost like relief. _Maybe Yang could help me figure this out_ , thought the closet Faunus as she resolved to ask her partner about her concerns.

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Ruby sighed. She had a lot of modifications planned for Crescent Rose. Most were legal. Some, less so. _After Beacon, Cinder's aura seemed to weaken every time we fought. Maybe the Maiden powers interfere with it somehow? Anyway, that can wait. We can't afford to let her get close to initiating her plan. I need to take her out at the CCT tower, and I need it to be quick._

There were two ways to overcome a person's aura: you could overpower it, like Yang usually did; or you could overwhelm it with many small strikes, like Ren and his Stormflower. She was strong, but she wasn't confident in her ability to punch through Cinder's aura in one blow. _And it has to be one blow, or she'll escape like last time, so the 'thousand cuts' strategy won't work._ She lifted a small Lightning Dust crystal, examining it for any cracks. Finding none, she slotted it into a small chamber she had built within the head of her scythe-gun. _Time to test the connections._ She pressed a button on the handle, and the blade started humming, and the edge blurred. Satisfied that it wouldn't explode or shake itself to pieces, she turned it off. _Hmm, the crystal is almost drained. Guess this'll be my ace-in-the-hole_. The rapid oscillation of the blade would cut through aura like it wasn't there. For that matter, it would do the same to almost anything.

She grinned. This wasn't her usual 'cool new toy' grin, this was a predatory grin that would have unnerved anyone watching. If Yang had seen it, all the effort Ruby and Jaune had put into maintaining their cover would have been wasted. Suddenly, she stopped grinning as blood rushed to her cheeks. _Oh, Oum, I just made my Crescent Rose vibrate. If Yang finds out, she'll tease me endlessly. Even more reason to keep this quiet for a bit._

 **0000000000000000**

RULES OF NATURE! Also, I gave our lucky five little 'souvenirs' because I didn't want this to be an 'everyone comes back all perfect, curbstomps the baddies, and lives happily ever after' fic. It also won't help Yang's suspicions any. Finally, HF BLADES FTW!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I'm bored, and on a roll!

The next day, RWBY and JNPR were to begin combat class. As before, Jaune was chosen to fight Cardin. Unlike before, he was trained, ready, and hardened by the Grimm War. As he hefted his shield, Pyrrha's training came to him. ' _Cardin's strong, but he has a poor form. He runs in and attempts to use his strength to crush his opponent.'_ He drew Crocea Mors, and settled into a fighting stance. Across the arena, Cardin simply rested his mace on his shoulder and smirked. Both of them circled, Cardin grandstanding, and Jaune waiting for an opening. "Yo wimp-boy, I'm gonna bust up your shield so bad, you'll be able to wear it as a helmet!" Jaune refused to let the taunt rile him. He'd faced worse. His nonreaction irked Cardin, who grunted. "What? Are you too scared?"

"No, I'm just thinking about the type of helmet. Do you think a bascinet would be cool?" ' _Get him off balance, he'll make mistakes.'_

For Cardin, that was the last straw. Jaune not reacting was one thing, but _Jaune_ mocking him was a different matter entirely. He raised his mace high, and charged. Jaune prepared to brace himself, before remembering another bit of wisdom from his partner. ' _Against an enemy who is stronger than you, never block head-on. All of that force has to go somewhere.'_ Instead of holding his shield flat, which would have allowed Cardin to bat him across the room, he angled it. The mace struck the shield, sparking off of it, and deflecting to embed itself in the floor of the arena. As Cardin struggled to free his weapon, Jaune followed up with a pommel strike to the face. His opponent's head snapped back, Cardin letting out a grunt of pain. _Yeah, that made him mad._

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Glynda was shocked. Based off of her earlier observations of the boy, he should have been utterly outclassed by his opponent. Instead, Cardin's clumsy charges merely opened up opportunities for the young knight to respond with increasingly brutal counterattacks. She winced as Jaune's leg trapped Cardin's before the flat of his sword hit his opponent's inner thigh, dropping his aura into the red and breaking the leg at the joint. _If that had been a real fight, his femoral artery would have been severed. Who taught him to fight like that?_ Even more disturbing was the expression on his face. Unlike the expressions of anticipation or fear she usually saw, his face was blank, masklike, only his eyes betraying any emotion. Not even Ironwood had those eyes. _Ozpin will want to know about this._

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Jaune changed his shield into a scabbard, and returned Crocea Mors to it. He didn't spare a look as medics came to take Cardin to the infirmary. As he passed his team on his way to change, Nora grinned. He gave her a small smile, before speaking. "You were right, that _did_ feel good."

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 **Several Days Later**

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 _Broken glass crunched beneath his shoes, the remains of a broken storefront. Jaune had passed by dozens of scenes like this in Vale's old shopping district. Unlike the others, this store held something he needed. Ruby had gone to a local weapon shop to find spare parts and ammo. Nora and Ren had gone to find camping supplies. He had opted to scavenge for food. He stepped over the jagged shards that still stuck from the frame, flakes of dried blood showing where a less aware passerby had cut themselves. He passed the canned goods isle, its shelves picked clean during the first wave of looting. As he neared the bulk goods area, a now-familiar stench hit him. He turned into the cereal isle, and was confronted with a corpse._

 _Within the last few days, he had seen more death than he had in his entire life. One more body was insignificant. Still, he might have some food on him. As he approached the unfortunate man, he noticed several odd things. First, the body was intact, so that ruled out a grimm attack. Second, there was a jagged length of pipe protruding from the dead man's chest._ Looters, murdering each other over scraps. Whatever happened to 'peace and unity?' _he thought._ _Jaune poked the body with his shoe. You never could be too sure. While most people had gotten to the refugee camps, some had remained in the necropolis to look for unattended valuables. He had encountered too many 'possum traps' to ever turn his back on an unverified corpse ever again. The stab wound on his back still itched a little._

 _His prodding uncovered the corner of a small box, crushed and mangled._ Murdered over a box of breakfast. _He flipped the body over._ Stabbed from the front. He must have fallen on it to spite his killer. _He pulled the box free from the congealed pool of blood it lay in._ _He turned it in his hand, and caught sight of a familiar redhead on the front. He closed his eyes, a few tears leaking from the corners._ How could I have been so oblivious? So wrapped up in my own self-pity that I didn't see until it was too late. _He took a few deep, shuddering breaths to calm himself, before opening his eyes._

 _The corpse was gone. In fact, the entire supermarket was gone. He stood alone in a seemingly endless darkness. Panicking, he looked around for a light, for anything. He had almost given up hope, when he saw a distant glow. "Jaune!"_

" _Pyrrha!" He tried to run, but his legs moved as if they were trapped in thick mud. The glow flickered and dimmed as her cries became more desparate, before they broke down into a shriek of pain. Hearing that, a mad strength pulsed through his limbs, and he charged towards the light. Finally, he seemed to burst through some invisible barrier, and saw her. Cinder stood above her kneeling form, bow drawn. In that moment, he threw his shield with every ounce of force he could muster. It struck Cinder, who shattered like a broken mirror. He rushed to her side, pulling her into a warm embrace. He clutched her like a drowning man clinging to the last piece of flotsam in the world. For what seemed an eternity, they held each other. Finally, he released her, and helped her to her feet. The void around them had coalesced into a large hall resembling a dark reflection of Beacon's cafeteria. "We need to get out of here. Follow me." He turned to search for an exit. "There! Come on."_

" _Right behind you, Jau-"_

 _Her confirmation cut out with a wet gurgle. He spun around to see her feebly pulling at the sword that transfixed her. He made to draw Crocea Mors, but his scabbard was empty. "No!" He glanced around frantically for it, before he noticed the distinctive pommel. It was currently grasped by a blood-slick hand. With dawning horror, he realized that the sword which jutted out of Pyrrha's chest was his. He pulled Crocea Mors out, and ripped off his shirt to hold it against the wound. "Pyrrha, stay with me! Don't leave me alone again!" The only answer he received was pain-filled sobs of breath, before even those stopped._

 _It was his turn to sob as her flesh began to flow like wax, before it formed the face of Cinder. "You did this, you know. If you'd just kept your guard up, I might have been delayed long enough for the procedure to complete, but you couldn't even do_ that _right. It flowed again, until he was staring at his eldest sister. "You were always the baby of the family. You always talked of becoming a world-famous Huntsman, and we would nod our heads and smile politely. Even then, we knew that you weren't cut out for it." Once again, it flowed, this time taking the shape of Ruby. "I pitied you, that's why I first befriended you. You seemed like you didn't belong, but then again, neither did I. The only difference is that I became stronger, while you remained just as you were. Weak." Suddenly, the body flowed away, leaving him with only Pyrrha's headband._

 _All around him, the hall dissolved, only to be replaced with the shadowy forms of everyone he had ever known. Family, friends, enemies,_ Pyrrha _. Under their condemning gazes, all he could do was curl up, and hope that they went away. They didn't, and one by one they opened their mouths, and spoke one word. "Weak." With every moment that passed, more voices joined the chorus of condemnation, that one word building into a never-ending chant._

" _Weak."_

" _Weak."_

" _Weak."_

" _Weak."_

 _Desperately, he covered his ears to no avail. He heard each word as clearly as if it were spoken right next to him. "Stop. Stop._ Stop! _" he shouted, and the voices ceased. He looked up to find himself alone except for one. Pyrrha's shade loomed over him, a pitying look on her face. When she spoke, that one word cut him more deeply than he thought was possible._

" _Weak."_

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Pyrrha sat awake. On warm nights like this, the old wound on her ankle would throb, a pulsing reminder of her death. Idly, she rubbed it, still not believing that she had been given a second chance. _Is this a gift from some entity wishing for us to succeed, or is this some cruel joke to give us hope, before it is all stripped away?_ Her musings were interrupted when she heard something from her partner's bunk. She looked over to see him curled into the fetal position, muttering something repeatedly. It took her mind some seconds before the sound resolved into two words. "I'm sorry."

She slipped out of bed, grunting slightly when she put her weight on her right leg. It wasn't as bad as it had been the first day, but pressure still sent a jolt of pain coursing through her. She moved to Jaune, before sitting on the matress. He started, awoken by the shifting springs. He sat up when he saw her. "Nightmares?"

"Yeah." Silence reigned for a minute, Pyrrha not wanting to pry. Finally, he drew in a deep breath. "How can you even look at me?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Your death was my fault. I couldn't even get simple guard duty right! If I hadn't looked back, I might have been able to do something, but you were screaming, and I just had to-" He was silenced when she pulled him into a gentle hug.

"Shh. I was in pain, and you were worried about me. That's who you are; you care about your friends."

"I was too weak."

"Weak? You could have left Beacon after initiation, and no-one would have blamed you. You could have abandoned Cardin and let him be killed by that Ursa. Instead you stuck by your team, and defended someone who was blackmailing you. That takes real strength."

"Thank you, Pyrrha." They sat like that for some time, neither wanting to ruin the moment. Eventually, she noticed that Jaune's breathing had steadied. She looked to her left, and saw that he had fallen asleep with his head resting on her shoulder. Sighing, she leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Sleep came peacefully to them that night.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm feeling better now! However, And the Heavens Shall Tremble will be put on hiatus. The draft of the next chapter got eaten by my HD, and I'm not looking forward to redoing it. Also, this is my longest story to date! CHOO CHOO, I'M ON A ROLL!**

Jaune awoke to the sound of giggling. He groaned, and pressed closer to the warmth at his side. When said warmth pressed back, his eyes snapped open. The first things he noticed were Ren and Nora, sitting next to each other. Nora was taking pictures on her scroll, while Ren was merely smiling knowingly. The second thing he noticed was the pair of arms wrapped around him. He carefully lifted his head from the shoulder it had been resting upon, and glanced to his left. Pyrrha clung to him, a contented smile on her face. He gently tried to pull away, only for his partner to mumble something under her breath and tighten her grip on the young knight. Knowing that he wasn't getting free anytime soon, Jaune leaned back against the wall and resigned himself to a long wait.

As it turned out, he only had to sit for half an hour before she woke up. As soon as she noticed where she was, a blush slowly crept up her face. "Heh. Good morning, Pyrrha," Jaune stated sheepishly.

"Good morning," she replied, equally embarrassed.

"I didn't want to wake you, but we really should start getting ready for class." At that, she bolted upright and rushed to begin her morning routine. Once she was out of the room, Jaune pointed at his other two teammates. "Not a single word." Ren nodded.

"Your secret is safe with us," he stated. "Right, Nora?"

"Sure," his orange-haired partner said unconvincingly, secretly sending a scroll message to RWBY.

"You already told someone, didn't you?" Jaune groaned.

"Maybe."

"That's just great."

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Yang yawned and got up to brush her teeth and hair. When she returned, her teammates were all staring at their scrolls. She checked hers, and found a single unread message. She opened it, and read.

 **From:** Nora

 **To:** Ruby; Yang; Weiss; Blake

 **cc:** none

 **Subj:** none

It's SOOOOO adorable!

 **Attachment:**

She opened the attachment, and was greeted by the sight of a mortified Jaune being hugged tightly by a sleeping Pyrrha. She snickered. This was going to be so fun to tease them about. _Guess Vomit Boy wasn't the only one with a crush. Wonder what she sees in him though._ Weiss had a different reaction. "Why would she lower herself to the level of that dolt? She could do far better than him."

"I don't know, Weiss," Ruby chided, a strange and melancholy smile on her face. "They could be good for each other."

Once again, the blonde bombshell's little sister proved to be unusually mature. "Why do you say that, Rubes?"

"He needs someone to help him become stronger. She needs someone who sees her as Pyrrha, instead of the 'Invincible Girl."

"Stronger? He broke Cardin's leg! Not that he didn't deserve it, but still!"

"He feels like he needs to live up to his family name. All of his life, he's felt like the weakest link. Beacon is his chance to fix that. Also, what better way to become stronger than with the help of the 'Invincible Girl'?"

"Gee, sis, did you ever think of going into Psychology? How'd you know all that about him? You've only known him for a week!"

"I talked to him," was the hooded girl's cryptic answer. _There's something more to this story that I'm missing. Blake told me her suspicions yesterday. Maybe I should have her look into this._

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Ozpin closed his laptop and rubbed his temples. James had received some new intel on the Black Queen's plans from an as-of-yet-unnamed source. He also enclosed a report from one of his scientists. The implications of the report were...troubling, to say the least. His misgivings came both from the nature of the scientist's work, and the revelations. _James, what possessed you to try to play god?_ He should have guessed that the Aura Siphon that sat many stories below him had been tested on _something_. It had been difficult to keep his hotheaded compatriot from flying the Atlesian fleet over and carpet-bombing every suspected White Fang hideout. He sighed, and paged Glynda. "Glynda, could you call Qrow? The game has changed, and we'll need his abilities." If his intuition was correct, they might just have an edge over their mysterious foe. "Check," he whispered to himself. He heard a knock on his office door. "Come in." Glynda entered, a displeased look on her face. "Yes?"

"Why have you not acted on my recommendation on the Arc boy? Winchester was lucky we have such skilled medical staff. If we hadn't, he would have been crippled for life!"

"Injuries are always a risk, even in the most controlled fights. Besides, if James's new report is accurate, we may have even bigger problems to worry about than a petty rivalry." Glynda's eyes widened as she read.

"Oh my."

"Exactly."

 **Suspicion grows! Can anyone guess the identity of the mysterious source? Anyway, sorry about the short chapter, but that just seemed the right place to stop.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** I LIVE!

The following months passed much as Ruby remembered them. She found classes easier this time however, as she remembered the lessons from 'before.' Jaune and Pyrrha picked up their training where Cinder's attack had cut it short. Nora and Ren did whatever they did whenever they had downtime, though Ruby suspected that it was _slightly_ different than what they had done the last time around, when the two were still 'not _together_ -together.' The peace could not last, however, as Jaune found himself once again targeted by team CRDL.

He grunted as he was slammed against the wall.

"Hey Wimp, I never paid you back for breaking my leg!" As much as it irked him, Jaune had to keep up the ruse.

"Uh, sorry? It was an accide-" His explanation was cut off by a punch.

"Yeah, and THIS is me 'accidentally' breaking your nose!" Jaune staggered, his aura already repairing the damage. The action caused a small pouch on a cord to fall out of his shirt. "What's this? Jauney-boy has a necklace! What, did your momma give it to you?"

"No." Jaune's voice was filled with barely restrained anger.

"Well then, I guess you won't mind if I 'borrowed' it." Cardin grabbed the pouch, only to find his arm in a vice-like grip. Jaune's face was positively murderous.

"Don't." At this point, something in his behavior started to ring alarm bells in the members of team CRDL.

Russel spoke up, "Cardin, we may want to leave this one alone."

"Shut up! It's not like he can do anything to us. It's four-on-one!" At that, Cardin's fist slammed into Jaune's gut, causing him to double over in pain. Cardin used the distraction to snatch the pouch. "Now, let's see what's in here that has you all worked up, shall we?" He undid the drawstring, and was hit with a greasy smell. "Phew, this stinks! What the hell is this?" He peeked in, and was greeted by the sight of a greyish powder. He paused for a second as his brain added two and two together.

The revelation hit him with the force of a crazed Ursa. He paled. There were some lines that even he wouldn't cross, and he had just played skip-rope with the biggest of them. There was only one thing he could say. "Oh sh-"

"-ould have you expelled! This is absolutely unacceptable! You should consider yourself lucky that Mr. Winchester is expected to make a full recovery!" Glynda's rant was interrupted by Ozpin.

"What interests me is what exactly drove you to attack young Cardin so viciously. What is in that pouch that could be that valuable?" Jaune silently undid the cord around his neck, and placed said item on Ozpin's desk.

"See for yourself." Tentatively, Glynda opened it. Her eyes widened.

"Oh my." She handed it to Ozpin. He looked in, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, that would certainly explain it. Would you mind if we had this tested?"

"Go ahead, it might tell you how much Cardin screwed up." With that, Jaune stormed out.

Soon, the time came for the trip to Forever Fall. Teams RWBY and JNPR arrived early to the Bullhead pad. CRDL was absent, as its members were currently recovering from several broken bones. Upon arrival, they all climbed into the VTOL. Finally, Glynda entered.

"Is everyone buckled in?" the pilot asked. Glynda gave the man a nod. "Okay then, up we go!"

Eventually, the verdant green of the Emerald Forest gave way to the vibrant red of Forever Fall. The pilot's voice crackled over the intercom, "My scanners are picking up abnormally large concentrations of Grimm in the area. Did anyone have a particularly bad day?" Yang caught the knowing looks that were sent Jaune's way. She had heard of the incident with Cardin, but it couldn't have been _that_ bad, could it? Once again, the intercom crackled. "We may wanna postpone this. I've got fliers incomi-" The bullhead lurched as a wet noise came from the speaker.

As they entered freefall, Ruby took charge. "Pyrrha! Slow us down." Pyrrha nodded, and her hands were wreathed in darkness. The passengers all felt their descent slow from 'pulped on impact' speeds to 'this will hurt' speeds. They fell for a few seconds before they crashed, and the world wnt black.

Yang came to upside-down. Ruby and Blake were already out of their harnesses, and they were helping Glynda to her feet. Weiss was still unconscious. Nora was shielding Ren with her body. Jaune was struggling in his tangled harness, screaming incoherently. When she looked to her right, the source of his distress was made clear. Pyrrha hung dazed in her seat, blood pouring from her ears.

Finally, Jaune cut himself free. He rushed over to his injured partner. She weakly waved him off. "I'm fine. I just overused my Semblance." He frowned at that.

"Here, let me try something." He freed her from her restraints, then placed a hand on her shoulder. They were both surrounded by a soft white glow. Pyrrha visibly relaxed, her pain disappearing. "There, I just topped off your Aura reserves. My presence made this happen. I'm sorry." She smiled.

"That's my line." They both chuckled.

"Save it for when we aren't about to get eaten!" Yang shouted, emptying a few shells into the twisted and wrecked door.

Ozpin was sipping his coffee when an alert appeared on his scroll. It appeared that Bullhead no. 3 was downed. He checked the registry. It was the one assigned to the field trip. He alerted the rescue team. Their services would be needed. He put down his mug, and massaged his temples. He did not look forward to the messages he would have to send.

Taiyang was chugging a beer. He had some downtime due to Qrow being called away for something-or-other, so he decided to go home and put his feet up. However, the house seemed empty without his little girls. His scroll chimed. He opened it to find a priority message from Beacon. He quickly scanned the text, his eyes flashing red. Someone was going to get a boot up their ass.


End file.
